BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TECHNICAL TEAMS...teams and addresses understanding performance, creating...

A Leadership White Paper

by Dr Elaine Hickmott

Development Director

EH Enterprises

BUILDING HIGH

PERFORMING

TECHNICAL

TEAMS

High Performing Technical Teams

www.eh-enterprises.com 1

This white paper relates to team performance and leadership and is specially written for people who lead or

aspire to lead technical or technically-orientated groups within scientific, engineering or manufacturing

organisations. It presents practical tips, tools and insights to help build or sustain high performing technical

teams and addresses understanding performance, creating valuable technical teams, organisational impact on

performance plus leadership and technical teams

The content includes: Technical talent: assets and challenges Understanding performance & value Team dynamics and culture conflict Creating value and building resilience

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Introduction

Hurray For Our Technical Talent Thanks to our scientists, engineers and technologists inventing, researching, designing, developing, manufacturing, supporting, consulting, educating we have a

Recognising this contribution and value to the economy and society; supporting individuals and

nurturing teams is not some ‘touchy feely’ initiative to tick a few boxes. It is an imperative.

What is Special About Technical Teams? Technical team members are often expected to be chameleon-like. Maybe solving problems one minute, being part of a cross-organisational project the next. Working to their ‘home’ team rules in the morning, satisfying what matters to a client in the afternoon. This variety in working scenarios, relationships and expectations brings with it many assets... and challenges too.

Why do the special characteristics which make technical teams assets also act as challenges to achieving

high performance? What can we do to support our technical talent and build high performing teams?

KNOWLEDGE ENGINE that brings us

3D printed artificial limbs improving accessibility

Software supporting and powering new business models

Seed technology addressing global agricultural challenges

Mobile phones connecting disparate global communities

Internet of Things enabling independence in old age



Assets and Challenges. So What?! A UKCES report, Growth Through People, reiterates importance of high-skills people to productivity and the UK economy. Do high-skill technical professionals equal high productivity? Not if skills are underutilised. Boredom and feeling undervalued influence behaviour affecting self-esteem and relationships. High-skills developed and utilised increase productivity and quality

Picture an organisation as an ecosystem with its own culture and systems. People influence and are influenced by this environment. What happens when individuals from different teams or different organisations work together? Culture clash can bring misunderstanding and disrupt team dynamics. Cross-group interactions create opportunities along the supply chain

Different approaches and knowledge matter to different disciplines and functions. What happens if there is no mutual respect or appreciation of the experience of others? Not seeing beyond a personal bubble and appreciating the perspectives and ideas of others stifles creativity and collaboration. Variety of experience, knowledge and world view support innovation

Before we can look at how to improve performance, first we need to consider what it means.

Performance in Perspective

Please take a moment to think about the following three questions...

How valuable is our technical team?

Does the organisation value technical talent?

Do our technical team members value themselves and each other?

Why questions about value? In organisational and team settings, value and performance are linked. There may not always be an explicit connection but at individual, team and organisation levels it is happening every day. We value our fellow team members based on how well they perform; teams’ results collected together show how the organisation has performed; organisational results indicate performance and influence its value to markets and shareholders alike. Therefore, to build a high performing technical team understanding, creating and sustaining value in team, organisational and individual contexts are pivotal. If we appreciate the relationship between value and performance we are then able to understand and measure what matters and is meaningful. Instead of measuring what is misaligned and misinformed and fuelling the fires of mistrust. Members of cross-organisational and cross-functional teams have different organisational contexts and interpretations of value. People who feel undervalued or do not see their value will not truly come together to form any kind of team. Teams that are undervalued or misunderstood can try as hard as they like but the view of their results will always be tainted. Perception is a powerful thing.

How do we achieve commonality of value and create high performing technical teams (HPTTs)?

What matters and

is meaningful?



Creating High Performing Teams Creating commonality of value is a particular challenge to technical team performance because of the variety of team scenarios and dynamics encountered by the technical professionals involved. ‘Home’ teams versus short-term troubleshooting teams versus cross-organisational collaborations versus project teams; the list goes on. There are, however, several common elements found in high performing teams which in combination address the ‘value’ challenge.

Leadership: not based on labels or status

Skills: fully utilised and developed

Purpose: understood and shared

Roles: identified and evolving

Trust: valued and nurtured

Successfully building high performing technical teams (HPTTs) addresses these areas; they are interlinked and powerfully influence each other so are best considered together and not in isolation. That does not mean changing everything at once; it requires a holistic, integrated thinking approach.

Technical Team Development Where to start can often be the most perplexing. The value-based team development model shown in Figure 1 is designed to help with thought processes, allow several interconnected elements to be put in perspective and to get the ball rolling with our HPTT mission.

The Model Elements

Why? Purpose Shared objectives don’t appear by magic. Crafting common purpose for teams is essential to achieving high performance. Lack of purpose encourages complacency; lets egos

get in the way. Purpose is where to start.

Who? Roles Knowing why you are part of a team and how you contribute to its success is a powerful thing. Being seen as a whole person whose skills add value encourages the ‘extra mile’ organisations desire.

How? Practices Many teams and organisations work and behave in ways that conflict with what they are trying to achieve. This situation is frustrating for those trying to innovate and make things happen, reduces productivity and discourages creativity. Relevant and meaningful team practices encourage respect and support high performance.

Figure 2

Team graphic | Dr E Hickmott | EH Enterprises 2015

Figure 1



Value Connections Understanding and creating value connections improves team dynamics, generates learning and development opportunities, nurtures trust and contributes to developing HPTTs. For example...

Value Connection

Enables

Combats

Increases

Purpose

+

Roles

Utilisation of high-skills

Focus on what matters

Boredom

Lack of respect

Culture clash

Conflict

Respect

Innovation

Opportunities

Productivity

Trust

Roles

+

Practices

Support of team activities

People development

Practices

+

Purpose

Measuring what matters

Unification of objectives

Real life dictates that it is not possible to deal with teams in isolation from their organisations because of the impact they have on building HPTTs.

Organisations: Friend or Foe? Obviously, organisations only exist thanks to people. Like any community they form a unique ecosystem which must evolve and change to stay relevant and dynamic. The pace at which this takes place may not reflect the needs of or insights from the technical teams working with or within them. This is especially true when considering the technology-on-steroids era we are living in. Consequently, and by the nature of their work, scientists and engineers are constantly required to push forward, re-evaluate and adapt, often in spite of their organisation. As part of most work ecosystems everyone has an organisational, team and personal dimension. Having them in synch is more conducive to high performance. Not factoring in the organisational dimension means efforts to build HPTTs may be wasted or, at worst, have a negative impact.

What sort of teams would these make? What would they value? How would they perform?

To understand this further and help apply it to real situations let us look at the 4-quadrant model described by Frederic Laloux in Reinventing Organisations and reproduced in Figure 2 on page 5.

Picture a contract laboratory where individuals are measured by fees earned; driving internal

competition not necessarily collaboration. Picture them working with a not-for-profit charity

to deliver an educational contract. Conflicting individual and team objectives are inevitable.

Imagine a joint venture between an entrepreneurial start-up, a commodity manufacturing

multinational with a lean philosophy and a bureaucratic public sector partner. Each wants to

work together but each brings their personal and organisational set of baggage.



Consider again the previous scenarios; cultures plus systems contributing to various individual beliefs; beliefs that influence a variety of behaviours and vice versa. A complex mix that may result in poor team performance for many reasons...

entrepreneurial vs bureaucratic personal risk vs job security

team vs organisation private vs public profit vs cause

What factors may be influencing

your team today?

Understanding more about the influence and impact organisations have on our teams allows us to translate the output of team purpose, roles and practices into language and measures which can be re-interpreted to demonstrate organisation value.

Taking a value-based approach for ‘home’ technical teams, cross-organisation collaborations or project-based groups is a healthy, strategic, purposeful activity; even if relationships are already strong. It improves communication and builds trust and mutual respect at all levels.

Assets and Challenges: Bringing It Together Creating commonality within any technical team; recognising the interplay between culture, systems, beliefs and behaviours improves our chances of building and sustaining valuable, resilient HPTTs. Whatever the technical team composition or dynamics...

How does this impact on leadership?

Interior Perspective Exterior Perspective

Ind

ivid

ual

Per

spec

tive

People’s Beliefs

People’s

Behaviour

Co

llect

ive

Per

spec

tive

Organisational

Culture

Organisational

Systems

Reproduced from Frederic Laloux’s Reinventing Organisations

Figure 2

Examples of Value-based Team Successes

Purpose

Increases opportunities and reduces culture clash

Roles

Utilise and develop high-skills individuals increasing productivity and learning

Practices

Encourage mutual respect and enable innovation



Leadership and Technical Teams Leading technical teams is not about status and hierarchy. Leadership is not defined by charts and job titles. The varying demands and dynamics experienced by technical team members combined with their high-skills and talents require a fresh leadership perspective; a leadership mindset.

The answers lie in... A practical, accessible frame of reference to describe leadership Acting as a sounding board and not over-relying on ‘boss’ label Using the value-based model for building and sustaining HPTTs Creating team learning opportunities beyond role and tech skills

The Creative Enabler Following years of hands-on experience developing teams, working as and with technical professionals plus complementary research, it became apparent that there were two areas common to leadership and technical team success.

Open-mindedness

People-orientation

High performing technical teams are built and sustained by those who are curious and ready to listen and learn; who recognise the value of others and respect differences; who want to add value and help others succeed. The Creative Enabler.

Figure 3 shows the relationship between people-orientation and open-mindedness.

Value and Resilience Creative Enablers recognise that exposure to a variety of working scenarios, relationships and expectations combined with the high-skills talent profile of technical team members is a recipe for

value creation. They also know it can lead to excess conflict, challenge and complexity that may result in increased pressure and stress; as depicted by Yerkes-Dodson Curve in Figure 4. Important elements which help maintain a healthy balance between performance and pressure include:

a supportive environment

various routes for team members to develop

listening and learning

Creative Enabler Matrix | Dr E Hickmott | EH Enterprises

Figure 3

Yerkes-Dodson Curve Figure 4



Creative Enablers understand the balance between performance and pressure as well as the links to value and resilience for individuals and teams. Their view is...

Managing multiple relationships requires strong communication and people skills

Embracing complexity and change requires investment in personal and team creativity

Creative Enablers always learn and evolve

Everyone As Leader Implicitly or explicitly, everyone in a technical team takes on the mantle of leadership at different times; provider of specialist knowledge; project lead; heading an industry forum and much more. Consequently, they are in the position to positively influence performance far and wide. Encouraging and supporting everyone to take the Creative Enabler view in the varying situations they encounter will help them deliver high performance through a value-based approach whatever the team scenario. Bringing opportunities to learn, to evolve and extend high-skills and experience.

Leadership Development

To become and remain a Creative Enable; develop and sustain HPTTs requires investment in our own development as well as others. The assets and challenges presented by technical groups with all their variety and talent require a value-based approach to development. It needs to be:

aligned to organisation, team and individual objectives incorporate on-the-job and complementary training and mentoring encourage personal development beyond role responsibilities put into a real-world context and demonstrate why it adds value be tailored, results-orientated and encourage learning beyond tech

The Diamond Effect® is an approach to learning and development specially designed for scientists and engineers and those leading technical teams. It is a philosophy which, when applied, supports, nurtures and develops Creative Enablers and provides a value-based route to achieving high team performance.

THE DIAMOND EFFECT® develops

Value and resilience in individuals and teams

Caring: self-awareness and understanding of others

Creativity: innate high-skill talents and expands their scope

Communication: various means of 2-way comms

Open-mindedness and people-orientation

Creative Enablers

Examples of Creative Enabler Successes



Different Tomorrow?

Bibliography

F Laloux; Reinventing Organisations R Martin; The Opposable Mind

C R Sunstein & R Hastie; Wiser UKCES; Growth Through People Report

About Dr Elaine Hickmott Dr Elaine Hickmott is founder of EH Enterprises, a learning and development consultancy specialising in working with scientists and engineers. Her mission is to support STEM talent around the world; enabling them to appreciate and develop their broad-ranging skills and expertise.

Elaine’s inspiration is rooted in the knowledge that scientists and engineers who develop holistically and beyond technical boundaries bring global prosperity and social change. Stepping back in time, her adventure began with a PhD in chemistry followed by experience as an industrial chemist and working in commercial and business leadership roles. Elaine says, “a PhD in chemistry launched me. Manufacturing and business inspired me. Curiosity and pro-activity did the rest”. She describes her career as going from boilersuit to boardroom and beyond.

If you have any questions or insights to share; leadership, learning or team challenges to discuss please contact Elaine via [email protected]

www.eh-enterprises.com

Five Top Tips

Be proactive and take the initiative

on developing team performance. Don’t wait for

directives or disasters.

Consider individual, team and

organisational perspectives holistically. All are

connected and impact on each other.

Don’t change everything at once.

Start by looking at ‘purpose’. Be open with the

team, get them involved, leave your ‘boss’ hat

behind and craft purpose together.

Invest in leadership mastery as you

would any technical discipline. Creative Enablers

are always developing skills.

Learning and applying knowledge are

important to scientists and engineers. Create a

culture that supports it both on the job and with

appropriate professional support.

Professional scientists, engineers and technologists recognise that developing technical knowledge and expertise takes time and an amount of effort. It does not miraculously happen overnight. Building and sustaining high performing technical teams is no different. Day-to-day challenges, balancing resources, business complexity and organisational pressures are facts of life. Do we use them as excuses not to change or recognise that quite often our reluctance to do something different is creating or compounding our problems?

High performing technical teams

are assets; under-performing ones

are a waste of talent and resources.

Which one is yours?

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